Last February, the College Board announced that the new SAT was getting a redesign beginning in January of 2015. In response to well-publicized difficulties experienced by the Common App's redesign this year as well as fears from colleges and counselors that students would not be prepared for the new test and scores would be difficult to interpret, the College Board has postponed the new SAT until the spring of 2016 with the first PSAT being taken fall of 2015. As David Coleman, president of the College Board, announced earlier, the redesign aims to test students on the "core knowledge and skills that evidence shows are most important to prepare students for the rigors of college and career."

Here is the letter that recently went out to members:

Dear Members,

I want to provide you with an important update on our work to revise the College Board’s assessment system so that we can best serve our higher education members and propel students forward into opportunity and success.

We have made the decision to adjust our schedule for this work and will now release the revised PSAT/NMSQT® in fall 2015, followed by the release of the revised SAT® in spring 2016. We heard clearly from our members — including our Board of Trustees, national and regional councils, the SAT committee, attendees at our national Forum, and particularly those in higher education — that you need more time, and we listened.

Our top priority remains the same. Working in partnership with our members, we will deliver a redesigned assessment system that best serves higher education and propels students toward success in college and work.

This change in the timing of the redesign will serve our members in higher education by providing two years to plan for the redesigned exam, familiarize themselves with changes, and meet system and publication requirements. The insight and input of admission professionals, who interact with our assessments on a daily basis, has been particularly instrumental in helping us to make this decision. We will continue to collaborate with admission professionals to develop useful resources for higher education institutions.

We have also heard the needs of states and districts. The K–12 community has expressed a strong preference for students to be able to take the revised PSAT/NMSQT before the revised SAT. Releasing the revised PSAT/NMSQT in the fall of 2015 will address this need, and we will continue to communicate with state and district leaders regarding this important work.

Our goal is to deliver an assessment system that is focused, useful, and clear. Member input will continue to be integral to this work, and we are committed to providing you with timely communications as we develop exams that best serve higher education and students. We look forward to sharing additional information regarding the redesign of our exams in the spring.